New England Patriots: 5 observations from win over Bills

The New England Patriots earned their 10th win of the season yesterday when they defeated the Buffalo Bills by a score of 23-3.

America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But the New England Patriots have marked the times. This team, this QB and coach, they’re parts of our past, Ray.

The more this season goes on, the more I grow to appreciate the Patriots. The imperfections. The adjustments. The attention to detail. When you can appreciate the little things like our veteran coach, the game is no longer boring when the Patriots win their millionth game in a row.

The inner machinations of Bill Belichick’s mind are an enigma. I’m convinced he has a rare form of synesthesia, but instead of hearing colors or seeing sounds he sees touchdowns by looking at the defensive formations. He thinks in binary code by instead of 1’s and 0’s he sees X’s and O’s. His brain is cross-wired for football. Plain and simple.

Today’s game was not a masterpiece in any way shape or form. But what the Patriots do best is win. The defense held the Bills to just 3 points. The offense strung together quality drives and were able to punch the ball in when they got in close.

Overall, it goes down in the record books as a W. The same as a 1 point nailbiter or a 40 point blowout. We’ll take it.

Welcome back to my weekly post-game blog. If you’re new, this is where I make 5 observations that I considered notable enough to write about. It could be about a single play, a bad call, or something funny I saw in the stands. Let’s get to it.

Gronk’s Cheap Shot

I’m going to start with the one thing everyone is talking about from this game. That was Rob Gronkowski’s cheap shot on Bills defender Tre’Davious White. The hit came after Gronk was held in the secondary and Tom Brady threw an interception while targeting him.

White was laying on the ground, getting ready to get up after his pick when Gronk ran up and quite literally Gronk spiked him into the ground. White’s head was hit and he would leave the game to enter the league’s concussion protocol.

Basically, there are two trains of thought circulating in the Twittersphere right now. The first is that Gronk was getting held throughout the entire play and he was justified in lashing out at White.

The second common opinion is that what Gronk did is absolutely unacceptable. He hit a player with an apparent intent to injure, and White could have been seriously, seriously injured.

In my opinion, these two schools of thought are not mutually exclusive.

"When asked about the play, Gronk apologized, saying “I’m not in the business of that. There was a lot of frustration, and I was just really frustrated at that moment. It just happened naturally through emotions, frustration.”"

Gronk is not in the wrong to be frustrated. He is the victim of more no-calls than anyone in the NFL, and building up frustration is a natural and warranted response. However, that hit was dirty and unacceptable. End of story. Let’s leave it at that.

No TD’s for Tom

An anomaly. Something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or unexpected. If you watched the Patriots game yesterday, you witnessed one. Tom Brady threw zero touchdown passes.

More from Chowder and Champions

• 3 Midseason Chaim Bloom Decisions That Have Killed the 2023 Red Sox
• 10 Patriots Who Will Be Cut by Tuesday’s Roster Deadline
• MLB Screws Red Sox Fans With Broadcast for Mookie Betts Return
• 3 Most Underpaid Celtics Heading Into the 2023 Season
• Red Sox Continue Rollercoaster Season With Massive Win

Since 2009, TB12 has only failed to throw a touchdown pass 9 times. NINE times in 9 seasons (excluding postseason). For those of us who passed 4th grade math, that’s 9 times in 135 games or roughly one time per season.

That’s pretty incredible. It’s not like Tom Brady needed any more statistical examples to show how great he is, but here we are.

Anyway, getting back on topic, Brady failed to throw a TD today. That doesn’t mean he played poorly, but he didn’t play a TB12 caliber game. Brady finished the day 21/30 for 258 yards and 1 interception.

And yet, while it was a mediocre day in the books, Brady still led the offense to a 20 point victory. The running game was sharp, which showed that the Bills were really focused on taking away Brady’s receivers.

Overall, this anomalous performance still netted the Patriots a win. In Tom Brady’s book, that’s as good a day as any.

Watch Out McDaniels

Speaking of Tom Brady, I can’t write this blog without mentioning Tom’s outbreak on the sidelines.

He looked like a Jersey Shore cast member who just got disrespected at the club. Don’t you ever talk to him like that.

I like my Tom Brady like I like my cheerleading movies: Fired Up!

It’s difficult to ascertain what words came out of Brady’s mouth, but one can only assume they were of the expletive variety.

Apparently, the argument stemmed from Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels telling Brady that Rob Gronkowski was wide open on a play that resulted in an incomplete pass to Brandin Cooks.

This right here is what’s different about Tom Brady. He cares more. Don’t you dare try to tell him who was open. He already knows. He knows he threw to the wrong guy. Maybe he threw to the right guy and it just didn’t work out. Whatever it is, don’t tell him how to do his job.

After watching that clip well over 50 times, I was ready to do my best Kool-Aid man and run through a brick wall. Oh Yeah.

Let’s hope we see more Angry Tom moving forward, because an Angry Tom is a dangerous Tom.

What’s that, Buffalo?

The last time the Patriots played in Buffalo they were introduced to a little fan base called Bills Mafia. Known for their tailgating antics, Bills Mafia has built up a reputation as the craziest fan base in all of sports.

You know how they keep that reputation up? No, it’s not the guy getting drenched with mustard in the parking lot before the game. Nope, not the drunk lads being thrown through flaming tables. Oh no, definitely not the beer being chugged out of scantily clad women’s nether regions.

Those are all great guesses. But what separates Bills fans is their lack of shame. The audacity to enter the stadium with a concealed sex toy, and then having the balls (pun intended) to throw it onto the field.

Where did he or she hide that thing when going through security? I don’t want to know.

This isn’t the first time this has happened, either. A marital aid has seen the field twice now this season, marking more time between the lines than Mike Gillislee has logged in the past four games.

Praise be to you, Bills Mafia. You know the age old saying, “if you can’t beat ‘em, get belligerently drunk and throw acrylic phalluses at ‘em!”

Did I get that saying right?

Dynamic Duo

Between all the cheap shots, verbal altercations, and dildos, there was a football game being played. Let’s not forget that.

The two stars of the game, in my opinion, were Dion Lewis and Rex Burkhead. Stephon Gilmore played great, and many others on defense did as well, but Lewis and Burkhead carried an offense whose aerial attack was held in check all day.

Dion Lewis led the Patriots in rushing, notching 92 yards on 15 carries, good for 6.1 YPC. Burkhead posted similar numbers, gaining 78 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries. That’s 6.5 YPC. These two moved the chains all day and gave the Patriots offense what they needed to win this game.

Lewis’s day was highlighted by a 44 yard gain, in which he threw a defender through the ground and into Dante’s Inferno. Tre’Davious White may be getting checked for a concussion, but Jordan Poyer, who Lewis threw down, may need to see a shrink this week.

Burkhead’s best run of the day, in my opinion, came towards the end of the 3rd quarter. Rex took a handoff to the right, cut back and hit the hole up the middle, and then dragged 2 defenders to the goal line where he just extended the ball across the plane.

It was a great effort on the back end and showed decisiveness and explosiveness. Burkhead has become a real touchdown machine for the Patriots, and he could be the new Legarrette Blount by season’s end.

These two, in the words of Charlie Kelly, “cut through the Bills defense like a soft cheese” en route to 170 combined rushing yards. Those numbers are deserving of a game ball, if you ask me.

There may not be a definitive face of the Patriots running game, but if Game of Thrones has taught me anything it’s that the most dangerous people are faceless.

They’ll look to continue their strong ground and pound next week.

Moving forward

It’s almost crunch time. The preseason is almost over. Soon we’ll have to strap on our big boy boots and play a meaningful game.

Next week the Patriots take on the Miami Dolphins for the 2nd time in 3 weeks. Unlike last weekend, the Patriots will be on the road vs. the Fins, but does that really change the outlook of the game?

The Patriots massacred the Dolphins last weekend, so they must be a little nervous to hear that Tom Brady and co. will be in town soon. Jarvis Landry can talk his talk, but he’s gotta be shaking at least a little bit right now.

With a win next Monday night, the Patriots clinch the AFC East. It would be their 9th division championship in a row. Not too shabby.

Next: New England Patriots: Top 5 quarterbacks of all-time

Overall, it was a good week. There were some bumps in the road, but it was a good win. Now it’s back to the drawing board for the Patriots, who have already forgotten about yesterday’s game.

Thank you all for tuning into this week’s observations. I hope you enjoyed and will be finding your way back next week. Go Pats.